I've been thinking about writing about Willeford ever since Donald E. Westlake passed. Don and I had spoken about Willeford quite a bit. He sent me Grimhaven and I noticed that many first editions of Willeford were still on his shelves. (Don's late-in-life collection was comparatively light; very few of his peers had that kind of representation.) When Don died, my Westlake overview was extremely satisfying to write and got a really nice response. I soon realized that I had to write about Willeford as well. The Ross Thomas survey that eventually followed was almost a delaying tactic, because it was clear that I needed more time to keep re-reading Willeford. All of Thomas's books are in one style, and no one had written in depth about Thomas before, so it was almost easy to do. Willeford's diverse canon and what people have thought about him is a much bigger pile to sift.

Eventually I needed professional help to get my thoughts in order. Sincere thanks to Don Herron and Ray Banks for agreeing to be interviewed. (Of course, Don's book is still the first place to go for Willefordian insight.)

Also thanks to the transcribers, Len Wanner and Cullen Gallagher; to JTM for a final edit; and to Kevin Whitehead, who first suggested that I read Willeford in the early 1990's.